Parallax (Emotional Entity)
"A yellow entity that was made of living fear. It created terror into anything it came in contact with, caused entire civilizations to destroy themselves out of paranoia. Their fear was eaten by this creature. And that creature was called Parallax." --Hal Jordan describing Parallax to Green Arrow Parallax is the living embodiment and source of all of the fear generated by sentient beings in the universe and the first organism to tap into the Yellow Light of Fear. History Origin After the White Light was shattered into the seven colors of the rainbow and the seven feelings of the emotional spectrum, the Entity was hidden within the core of the planet Earth. This led to life being generated across the universe, beginning on Earth. Later, this led to the rise of sentient beings, seven of whom eventually were the first to tap into the power and corresponding light of emotions and were transformed into cosmic-level entites of staggering power. At an unspecified point in time (said to be thousands of years after Ion's transformation), a simple flying insect transformed into the fear that it felt as it fled for its life. This became Parallax, the second of the emotional entities to come into existance (after Ion). At some point in the distant past, the Spectre tried to hunt down and destroy the various emotional entities. It did this because it believed that the entities were far too dangerous to otherwise be left alone and had too much potential influcence on regular life-forms within the universe. During its hunt for the emotional entities, the Spectre encountered and fought against Parallax, but failed to permanently incapacitate the fear creature. Early History Before it was imprisioned by the Guardians, Parallax travelled from world to world, causing entire civilizations to destroy themselves from paranoia. Beings who had looked down the gullet of Parallax and somehow survived created a universally recognized symbol by which Parallax and the concept of fear could be expressed; eventually, this symbol became the emblem of the Sinestro Corps. Eons before the Guardians of the Universe created the Green Lantern Corps and while the Manhunters were still an active policing force, the Guardians managed to capture Parallax and trapped the fear entity inside a small box. This box was stolen at one point from Maltus by Larfleeze and his guild of thieves. The Guardians and their Manhunters pursued the thieves to the planet Okaara, in the Vega System. Once there, the Guardians and their androids attempted to engage the thieves in direct combat, but held back when the Orange Light was unleashed. Ultimately, the Guardians settled for a bargain: if the thieves would give back the box that they had stolen from Maltus, then one of them would be allowed to retain possession of the Orange Light (as long as it stayed within the Vega System). Larfleeze gave the box that contained Parallax back to the Guardians, who then returned it to Maltus. After they created the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians transferred Parallax to a new prision: the Green Lantern Central Power Battery. There, Parallax was continually held in check by the contained energy of Willpower, and the emotional entity Ion itself. The Guardians never spoke of Parallax to the Green Lanterns, and kept its true nature hidden from all else in order to prevent anyone from trying to free the fear entity. Over time, the dormant Parallax became known as the "yellow impurity", as Parallax's hibernating essence was partially dissipated into the many Green Lantern Power Batteries and thus later into the Green Lantern Power Rings used by the Corps. This caused the Power Rings used by the Corps to be ineffective against objects that were yellow. This was the status quo for the Corps, until the hibernating Parallax was freed. Hal Jordan Parallax's freedom was not an easy thing for the fear entity to obtain; the entire process actually took several years to accomplish. The very beginning of the process occured when the corrpt Green Lantern Sinestro was imprisioned with the Green Central Battery. There, his Qwardian Power Ring tapped into Parallax's essence and caused the fear entity to awaken for the first time in millenia. Sinestro then discovered Parallax and spoke with it, telling it of his hatred for the Green Lantern responsible for his imprisonment: Hal Jordan. Knowing of this, Parallax chose to use Jordan as its tool to free itself, and so spent years influencing Jordan. This manifested as increasing amounts of self-doubt within Jordan, and prematurely whitened hair at his temples. By the time that Coast City was destroyed, Parallax was easily able to influence Jordan at a much greater level, instigating his descent into darkness and subsequent murderous actions. After his hometown of Coast City was completely destroyed by Mongul I and the Cyborg Superman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan was finally driven by Parallax into insanity. Going on a rampage, Jordan travelled to Oa to destroy the Green Lantern Corps, attacking and defeating anyone who dared to cross his path. This included Kilowog, the future "Lost Lanterns", and the Guardians themselves. Jordan then killed Sinestro (later revealed to be a hard-light construct) and destroyed the Green Lantern Central Power Battery. After figuring out that something big had happened on Oa, a small group of heroes came together and travelled to the planet to discover exactly what was wrong. There, the group discovered the Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan, who was easily able to defeat the entire band. Kyle Rayner Blackest Night While Sinestro was possessed by the Entity, he saw the creation/transformations of the seven emotional entities, including Parallax. Brightest Day Alternate Versions In one alternate timeline, the Sinestro Corps were formed several years before they banded together in the main timeline. In this splinter universe, the Green Lantern Tomar-Re became Parallax's host instead of Kyle Rayner. Powers and Abilities Powers *'Fear' - As the physical manifestation of the emotion of fear and the Yellow Light, Parallax has near-infinite fear-based powers on a vastly greater scale than any regular Sinestro Corps member. **'Yellow Energy Manipulation': As the embodiment of fear, Parallax can generate and manipulate amounts of the Yellow Light. It therefore has powers similar to, but far greater than, a Qwardian Power Ring. ***'Construct Creation' - Parallax is thus able to create solid light constructs that are either green or yellow, such as creating a construct of Sinestro that Hal Jordan destroyed. *'Immortality': As an entity based upon an emotion, Parallax is immortal and therefore cannot be destroyed. *'Possession' - Parallax is capable of taking possession of a person's body when they feel even the slightest amount of fear. *'Mind Control' - Parallax has mind-control powers strong enough to easily frighten and control Superman, Wonder Woman, and even the Spectre. However, it cannot control those able to understand and conquer their inner fears, such as Kyle Rayner and Batman. Strangely, Parallax was unable to control Alan Scott. *'Reality Manipulation' - Parallax has enough sheer power to alter the fabric of reality to suit its desires if it so pleases. *'Time Manipulation' - Parallax has enough sheer power to alter the fabric of time to suit its desires if it so pleases. *'Flight' - As an insect-based creature and the Yellow Light itself, Parallax is capable of using its powers for self-powered flight. Abilities *As it is the physical manifestation of fear and the yellow light, the powers that Parallax possesses are actually natural abilities, as side-affects of being an emotional entity. Weaknesses *'Hope' - Parallax can be severely weakened by the Blue Light of Hope. Personality and Appearance As it is the physical incarnation of fear, Parallax is a power-hungry and sadistic being. The fear entity enjoys to torment others emotionally, dredging up its targets' fears and failures and forcing them to relive their worst moments. Parallax appears in the form of a giant transparent-yellow insect-like creature. At the back of Parallax's throat is a series of marks that resemble the Sinestro Corps emblem. This was the original inspiration for the symbol, first carved out by beings before Parallax's imprisionment. Equipment *None; as the physical manifestation of fear and the Yellow Light itself, Parallax has no need of an Qwardian Power Ring, a Qwardian Power Battery, or even the Qwardian Central Power Battery to tap into the power of the Yellow Light. Quotes :"Fleeing for survival, this thing transforms into the emotional power it emits. Fear is born. And thus Parallax." --The Entity-possessed Sinestro speaking of Parallax's creation/transformation. :"I never fathomed that the impurity was alive. That my Qwardian ring was tapping into sentient fear." --Sinestro talking about Parallax. Notes *In the JLA/Avengers crossover event, the renegade Guardian Krona tried to merge the DC and Marvel universes together. During the temporal disruptions that ensued from his attempts, the Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan appeared briefly, before being replaced by Kyle Rayner. It is unknown from which point in time the Parallax-possessed Jordan was plucked from. Appearance List :Appearance List Incomplete. *''Zero Hour Vol 1 0'' *''Zero Hour Vol 1 1'' *''Zero Hour Vol 1 2'' *''Zero Hour Vol 1 4'' *''Guy Gardner: Warrior Vol 1 18'' *''Guy Gardner: Warrior Vol 1 20'' *''Guy Gardner: Warrior Vol 1 21'' *''Guy Gardner: Warrior Vol 1 44'' *''Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 1'' *''Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 2'' *''Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 3'' *''Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 4'' *''Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 5'' *''Green Lantern: Rebirth Vol 1 6'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 0'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 50'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 63'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 64'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 101'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 106'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 144'' *''Green Lantern Vol 3 150'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 8'' - (In Dream Only) *''Booster Gold Vol 2 #0'' - (In an Alternate Timeline) *''Green Lantern Vol 4 21'' *''Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax Vol 1 1'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 22'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 23'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 24'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 43'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 50'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 51'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 52'' - (In a Flashback/Vision) *''Green Lantern Vol 4 53'' *''Green Lantern Vol 4 54'' See Also *Emotional Entities *Emotional Entities/Gallery In Other Media *Parallax will be a major villain in the upcoming 2011 live-action Green Lantern film; the charater will be CGI. External Links *The GL Wiki's Parallax Page *The DC Wiki's Parallax Page *Comicvine's Parallax Page *Parallax at Wikipedia Category:Emotional Entities Category:Parallax Category:Fear